St. Charles East knocks off Streamwood

It's the time of year when giving is better than receiving, and St. Charles East guard Evan DiLeonardi epitomized that spirit at Streamwood Friday.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior guard gift-wrapped a season-high 8 assists in a 72-57 Upstate Eight River boys basketball win.

"We like getting everyone involved," said DiLeonardi, who also scored 9 points. "It makes everyone feel good and gets everyone's confidence up."

Sophomore forward Justin Hardy (6-foot-3) was a beneficiary of DiLeonardi's good will toward man. He led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting and had 3 rebounds.

Several Hardy shots were layups, thanks to DiLeonardi assists after his penetration drew the Streamwood defense.

"As Evan said, we share the ball really well," Hardy said. "And our offense sets us up for success. We roll hard to the basket and that sets up shooters. If they don't tag on our roll man, we're just going to get easy buckets down low."

St. Charles East coach Patrick Woods liked what he saw from Hardy in his third game back from injury.

"He was a monster and he's just going to continue to get better," Woods said. "He's playing with more and more confidence. He shot well and he was a presence on the board. I also thought he did a good job leading us out there."

Streamwood (2-7, 1-3) had trouble answering the bell in both halves. St. Charles East (7-2, 3-0) bolted to an 18-2 lead behind 10 points from Hardy, but the Sabres used a 13-2 run to get back in the game. That surge was keyed by 8 points from 6-2 senior Jaleel Jenkins, who finished with 14.

However, the Sabres couldn't maintain their focus as the Saints responded with a 17-7 run to take a 37-22 halftime lead.

St. Charles East opened the second half on a 7-0 run, capped by a Hardy steal and breakaway dunk to establish a 22-point lead.

"It might be that group we're sending out in the beginning, but it comes down to intensity and being focused all the time," Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn said. "Our losses are coming from our lack of attention to detail. We're losing little battles on the floor, a rotation here, keeping a guy in front of us. And they get (the lead) out to 20. Then we get it back to 10 because we're doing all the little things right. Then we start slipping again and losing our focus."

The Sabres were able to slice the deficit to 61-51 with 3:57 remaining when senior guard Joey O'Halloran sank his third 3-pointer of the fourth quarter. He scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the final eight minutes.

The Saints answered with an 11-4 push to close the game, keyed by a 3-pointer from 6-5 senior Grayson Brucato and the last of Hardy's inside buckets.